ONE of the first tasks undertaken by Gary Bowyer when he was appointed Blackburn manager was to decorate the walls of the training ground with images of the club's most famous day.

Along the corridor from his office at Brockhall, there is a picture of Kenny Dalglish holding aloft the Premier League trophy and others of Alan Shearer and Co.

Sunday's trip to Liverpool will fuel misty-eyed recollections of the sunny afternoon 20 years ago when a dream was realised on Merseyside, while at the same time bringing into focus Blackburn's sharp descent from that giddy high to English football's second tier.

Yet Bowyer is not one to run from the past.

"It is part of our history and rightly we should cherish it," he said.

"There are not many clubs who have won the Premier League and we were fortunate to do it under Jack Walker and Kenny Dalglish and all those players.

"It's important today's players understand the history of the club. Every day they walk past that picture of Kenny and the Premier League winning team.

"I don't think it can be negative. The facts don't lie. The club has gone from there to where it is now.

"We have an opportunity to go and give our fans something to cheer about on Sunday and, for some, it will hopefully enable them to relive memories of 1995.

"But this game now is David v Goliath. I've spent just under £3m and Brendan Rodgers has spent £200m. If you look back 20 years ago, then Blackburn were the big spenders."

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Kenny Dalglish and skipper Tim Sherwood show off the 1995 title trophy

The destiny is supposed to lie with Steven Gerrard in this season's FA Cup as he endeavours to end his Liverpool career on a high at Wembley on his 35th birthday, but the prospect of Blackburn enjoying another remarkable afternoon at Anfield also carries a certain allure.

These days Bowyer must cope with a transfer embargo, rather than breaking transfer records.

However, the job he is overseeing in guiding the Lancashire club out of a turbulent period, when managers came and went at a blistering rate of knots, is appreciated by those within the game.

Some 24 players have left the original, bloated squad he inherited in the summer of 2013 when, after two stints as caretaker, he was handed the reins full-time.

It is part of our history and rightly we should cherish it

Gary Bowyer

Of the 15 who have come in, just seven have had fees lavished on them with Ben Marshall the most expensive signing at just under £1m.

Indian owners Venky's have retreated into the background and the club that had become the butt of jokes is aiming to have the last laugh.

"Our initial aim was to get us out of the media because it seemed like there were negative comments about us every day," said Bowyer, whose side beat Sheffield Wednesday in midweek to maintain hopes of a late push for the play-offs.

"Now we seem to be making headlines for the right reasons and generating some positivity because of the performances on the pitch. The owners have been very supportive of me.

"The club relies massively on their financial support and they have learned a lot since taking over."

There remains plenty of work to do before the "promised land," as Bowyer calls it, hoves back into view, but adding Liverpool to those Premier League scalps of Swansea and Stoke would underscore the sense of forward progress.

Bowyer was at Anfield a fortnight ago with father, Ian, the former Nottingham Forest European Cup winner, to conduct a personal scouting mission on Sunday's opponents.

The teamsheet is still on his desk aware that the likes of Gerrard and Lazar Markovic will come back into contention for Liverpool, while he is likely to be without Josh King, whose hat-trick cut down Stoke in the last round.

"It was good to spend some time with my dad," he said. "He has been fantastic for me. He has great knowledge and it was a good opportunity to ask him one or two questions on what he felt on the night.

"Sunday will be a very proud day for me. To be able to take my team to an iconic venue is part of my development and education just as it will be important for the players.

"We aren't going just for the experience. We are going to try and continue the run we are on.

"If you look at Bradford in the competition, and Middlesbrough winning at Manchester City then we have to take inspiration from those as well as from our own performances in the cup.

"We have gone into all the games thinking we can cause a shock. Sunday will be no different."